unaffordable

American  

[uhn-uh-fawrd-uh-buhl] / ʌn əˈfɔrd ə bəl /

adjective

1. too high in price to afford.

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Explanation

If something is unaffordable, it's too expensive. A house that costs millions of dollars is unaffordable for almost everyone. This adjective often describes things that cost too much money for the average person, like unaffordable rents in a particular city or unaffordable health care. When you can afford something, it's within financial reach; you can manage to purchase it. Unaffordable things are priced too high for your budget or bank account, like those ultra-rare sneakers you covet.

Example Sentences

That throttled supply means property prices -- and therefore rents -- make up an unaffordable proportion of many people's income.

From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026

“It was making the equipment unaffordable, and the actual benefit was nothing.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

A low starting salary, global pandemic, unaffordable housing market, graduate school and two kids didn’t stop Blake Edwards and his wife from becoming millionaires by their early 30s.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

Having worked on many holiday homes, he said he saw the benefits they could bring to the local economy but also witnessed property prices becoming unaffordable for local people.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

The January price liberalization and a blossoming of private vendors filled shelves across the country with previously scarce food items and consumer goods, but wages lagged behind inflation, making such goods unaffordable for many consumers.

From The 1993 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency